Go Blue!

THEN

ignore the date (it's clearly wrong)

NOW

Madelyn's 10th Month!

My kid is hilarious! HI-LAR-I-OUS! I find myself laughing at her several times throughout the day. Her facial expressions and voices are so varied and spot on for whatever situation she is in. She is seriously oozing personality as if it can't be contained in her little body.

Big things this month:

1. Pulls to standing. She first did it in the middle of the night and I thought to myself when I walked in the room around 4am, "Self, I should go get my camera and capture this moment" but then I remembered it was 4am and I would rather be sleeping so I waited until morning. This resulted in a few challenging nights until she figured out how to let go of the crib rail and sit back down. She would pull herself to standing and then not be able to get down which would result in crying until one of us would help her down. She would then pull herself up again as soon as we left the room. Wash, rinse, repeat for at least an hour each night. Now she pulls herself up on everything which means we are to the next phase of baby proofing. I think the worst incident was when she pulled the kitchen chair down on herself. Thankfully, we have pretty light kitchen chairs so it didn't hurt her but it definitely caught her off guard. Since then, it hasn't been an issue.

2. Waving bye-bye. She finally figured out waving bye bye and has even added a "ba" when she does it. In true Madelyn fashion, she will only wave when she wants, not when we want to show her off.

3. Clapping. I am still working on getting this on video but she is very excited to finally clap with her hands unfisted since she can make noise this way.

4. Food - she went through a phase in that she only wanted food in it's original form. Corn - on the cob. Peaches - don't cut them. Bananas - whole. Bread - give me the whole slice. Then she went through a phase where she wanted all her food cut up into bite sized pieces so she could eat it out of a bowl like the fancy schmancy girl that she is. Now she's somewhere in between but I'm pretty sure she will always eat corn on the cob. She thinks she is too cool for school with that one.

5. Other things worth mentioning. Since birth, Madelyn has crossed her feet at the ankles. It is the most adorable thing I've ever seen. She will do it when she eats, sleeps or is just playing.

Madelyn thinks her brother Ben is super and goes absolutely nuts whenever he comes in the room. She also sticks her face to the glass door when he leaves.

I think we are getting close to the end of her nursing days. She is only nursing 2-4 times a day and it is usually only when I offer it to her. I would really like to get her to a year and then use my stash to have her continue to get breastmilk until that runs out. I really don't see weaning being an issue with her - she's just got too much other stuff to do.
She pulls every.single.book off her bookshelf every.single.day. My mom finds this hilarious because I used to do the same thing and she thinks it's karma coming back to me.

6. Potty training. Yup, I said it. Miss. Madelyn has some very distinct sounds when she is going to trash her diaper. She also makes these sounds a good 2-3 minutes before she actually starts to go to the bathroom. I was telling my mom this and she suggested taking her into the bathroom when she does it so she starts associating the bathroom with going to well, the bathroom. Since Madelyn is cloth diapered and I really don't love dealing with the poopy diapers now that she is eating solids I decided to take it a step further and put her on the toilet when she makes the noises. It has been 3ish weeks since we've been doing this and it is working out really well. I LOVE not having to deal with those diapers and she thinks she is the coolest kid ever when she is sitting on the toilet. Who knows if it will make potty training easier but it's worth a shot.

7. New teeth. Madelyn has fangs. They both came in on the same day and she got through it like a champ. No fussing, no drooling. Just one day, there were 2 more teeth. Her smile is absolutely ridiculous now.

8. Last big thing - Madelyn's newest friend, Charlie Fraylick was born! August 26th - Finally there was another baby that decided due dates were BS and came late. I was beginning to think I had the only stubborn child when it came to this. Anyway, he was a whopping 9lbs 1oz and 22.5" (yes, I typed that correctly) - way to go Mama Kristyn!! Welcome to the world, Charlie!

It's long enough for....

....French braids!
I've been dreaming of this day since she was born. I used to love when my mom would braid my hair. Now, Madelyn doesn't really feel the same - in fact, she'd rather crawl around like a mad woman than sit and let me play beauty salon but I'm gonna do it anyway. After all, what fun is there in having a girl if you don't play dress up and put bows in her hair all day.